The country’s long-awaited building safety reforms are moving forward, but a full legislative regime remains some way off, explains Paul Cheyne.
Unlike England, which implemented the Building Safety Act in 2022, Northern Ireland is still developing its own framework, led by the Department for Communities at Stormont.
The current programme stems from the findings of the Northern Ireland Expert Panel on High-Rise Residential Buildings, whose report, published in December 2023, highlighted significant weaknesses in the existing system and called for wide-ranging reform.
In response, the Department for Communities established a dedicated Residential Building Safety Division and, in early 2024, formally launched a programme to improve fire safety and develop a new legislative framework.
Groundwork focus
Throughout 2024, the focus was on groundwork. Officials carried out research, scoped policy options, and engaged with residents, building owners and industry professionals.
A roadmap published later that year set out how the panel’s recommendations would be taken forward, signalling a shift from evidence gathering to structured policy development. By the end of 2024, a clear direction had emerged, but the detail of how a new system would operate remained undecided.
That changed in January 2025, when the department moved into a co-design phase. Bringing together stakeholders from across the construction and housing sectors (including APS representation), the initiative aimed to collaboratively shape the future building safety regime.
Early sessions quickly expanded into a wider programme running through the first half of the year, tackling key issues such as professional competence, regulatory oversight, accountability and the management of building safety information.
In total, 13 co-design sessions were delivered between January and June 2025, involving more than 300 participants. The scale of engagement underlined both the complexity of the task and the department’s intention to build a system tailored to Northern Ireland rather than simply replicating the approach taken elsewhere in the UK.
Following this intensive period of collaboration, attention turned to refinement. In the latter half of 2025, officials began drilling into the technical detail, establishing smaller task-and-finish groups to work through complex policy areas. Further engagement with residents in November ensured that those living in high-rise buildings continued to have a voice in shaping the reforms.
Moving forward
As of early 2026, Northern Ireland remains firmly in the policy development phase, with progression to legislation dependent on Executive approval. Following the completion of co-design and subsequent technical refinement through task-and-finish groups in late 2025, the Department for Communities has developed its policy proposals, but must secure agreement from the Northern Ireland Executive before moving forward.
Only once that approval is obtained can the department proceed to formal consultation and the drafting of primary legislation.
This means that, while the direction of travel is now well established, a Building Safety Bill has not yet been introduced, and any legislative timetable remains contingent on that point. In practical terms, this places Northern Ireland at a gateway stage, poised to move into legislation, but not yet authorised to do so, leaving it likely that 2027 will be the earliest the legislation could be enacted.
Paul Cheyne is director of Hasco Europe
